Idaho Concerts at Egyptian, Comedy at Neurolux

When local promoter Bob Overand fell ill a couple of years ago, he still kept a hand in his promotion company Idaho Concerts. But through his longtime relationship with Record Exchange, he turned some of the management over to Joy Hart, RX's marketing and promotions manager. Since mid-2007, Overand and Hart have continued to bring some seriously newsworthy shows to town and many of them happen at the gorgeous Egyptian Theatre.

Idaho Concerts announced this week that they will begin managing all of the booking for the Egyptian. Hart said that what Idaho Concerts really hopes to do is increase the theater's usage.

"We will continue to book shows at Woodriver Cellars and in Missoula, Mont.," Hart said. "But we will be super focused on the Egyptian."

Though Idaho Concerts' bread and butter is music, they will now be responsible for anything and anyone playing at the Egyptian: movies, film festivals, community events (think Ignite Boise), stand-up comedy.

Between the Egyptian, Grizzly Rose and Woodriver Cellars (they've also had shows at the Nampa Civic Center, The Mint in Hailey and a few venues in Missoula) Idaho Concerts has brought the likes of Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, The Meat Puppets (twice), They Might Be Giants, Wilco and more to the area. Hart is glad to have been a part of those shows, but there is one in particular she's most proud of.

"Getting the Swell Season [Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova] here was huge for us," she said. "We brought The Frames when they were smaller and that was cool, but Swell Season? That was a big deal."

While this may not technically be news about music, we wanted you to know about this event and it is happening in one of the hippest places to see music so we figured we could slide it in: Stand-up comic Barry Sobel will perform at Neurolux on Wednesday, Dec. 23, and he's "Back to Save the Universe."

Sobel has followed the trail blazed by many a comedian for whom a stage in a smoky club isn't enough. He recently appeared on David Alan Grier's Chocolate News on Comedy Central; he performed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson; he's been in several movies, including Blind Date, Doc Hollywood, Punchline and That Thing You Do.

He'll be joined by fellow funnyman and Idaho native Tyler Riggers. Tickets are only $5 and the show starts at 8 p.m.